FBI, This Week: Operation reWired

FBI, This Week: Operation reWired

An FBI-led international operation aimed at dismantling perpetrators of the prolific business email compromise scam results in nearly 300 arrests.

Audio Transcript

Mollie Halpern: An FBI-led international operation aimed at dismantling perpetrators of the prolific business email compromise scam results in nearly 300 arrests.

Business email compromise, or BEC, is a sophisticated scheme in which cyber criminals con individuals or company employees to make unauthorized transfers of funds.

Operation reWired involved intensified law enforcement activity in multiple countries during a four-week period and included domestic and international law enforcement partners.

Special Agent Justin Nwadiashi…

Justin Nwadiashi: We strategically chose these countries because there is a high volume of BEC activity in those locations. To that end, we surged our resources with those countries to end this illegal activity.

Halpern: BEC is the number-one crime type based on victim loss reported to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Between October of 2013 through July of this year, BEC victims reported losses of $11.4 billion.

Special Agent Kathryn Sherman says it has a devastating financial impact on victims and the global economy.

Kathryn Sherman: The main goal of the operation was to come together with the United States government and other international partners to take down these criminal organizations and show them that wherever you are, you will be charged and prosecuted and held accountable for the billions of dollars of loss that you’ve caused victims around the world.

Halpern: Report BEC scams and learn how to prevent becoming a victim at ic3.gov.